Keeping Track of Medication

I have lost two pairs of black running tights (leggings). If you find them, could you return them?
I know they were here, because I wore them when the weather was freezing and they functioned as long underwear in addition to exercise clothes. Now that it is “officially” spring, I can’t find them. Anywhere. Losing clothes is one thing, but losing medication would be an altogether different problem, wouldn’t it?

When I was first diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, I think I was put on Aricept. I had no trouble remembering to take my medication (that I remember), although I think the initial packets were labeled and I added dates to each week. Funny, I wonder if I knew what week it was. When another drug, Namenda, was added to my treatment, I began using an inexpensive pill organizer that may have been given to me by my doctor or pharmacist, or by the Alzheimer’s day services program where I was facilitating support groups. Or maybe I had to purchase one because Namenda is usually prescribed twice a day. So I went from just one bottle of medication to filling a “box” once a week, which I could do without much effort.

I don’t remember when purchasing a new pill organizer became necessary. It may have been when I was trying supplements. But I currently need one because I take seizure medication as well as Namenda and Aricept. They take up some space in pill compartments. I looked online off and on because my local pharmacy had nothing that would work. They were either too big (four doses a day) or too small. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I would know it when I saw it. My search ended up on Amazon and that didn’t narrow it down. The prices were all over the place and I wanted to keep the cost down, but I needed the pill keeper to function for longer than the last two or three had. This is the one I purchased, though I see now they have a 4-times-a-day holder as well as a much deeper one. If you are looking for a daily keeper, this might be just right for you. What is very helpful is that I can take just one day with me if I am going out for dinner, or traveling for a few days. If I travel longer than a week, I take the keeper and my prescription bottles.

I keep my pills in the keeper on my bedside table. Days not taken have the “day” (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…) facing up. Days taken are put in with the blank side facing up. When all blanks are showing, I know I have to refill. My pill bottles are kept in a scrapbook box on the kitchen counter. I bring the bottles to the keeper and put all the individual keeper boxes, open, on the top of the scrapbook box. Then I remove one bottle at a time, read the instructions, and fill the boxes with that medicine for the week. I close the bottle, leave it outside the scrapbook box, and repeat until there are no more pill bottles in the scrapbook box.

One day I won’t be able to do this and it will probably fall to my wife. For now, this system keeps me from succumbing to the same fate as my running tights. By the way, have you seen them?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Diane Thornton

Diane was diagnosed with early onset dementia after several years of medical tests and seeing more than six doctors and specialists. She has embraced life with dementia and hopes you do too. She says that she...read more

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